Summer Practice

Our school year is winding down. With final exams and graduation and summer break comes a disruption in our after school yoga routine. It doesn’t inconvenience me personally very much since I have an established home practice and meaningful access (i.e., time, funds, and transportation) to a number of yoga studios in my city. The same is not true for all my yoga students, so I shouldn’t have been too surprised when one of them commented to me, “I’d like to keep practicing over the summer, but I’m not really sure what to do. Like, I can do the poses, but I don’t know how to put them together.”

Which I think is a pretty common issue, knowing individual poses but being uncertain as to how to sequence a whole asana practice. So I put this together as a basic framework for my students and anyone else who wants it. The idea is that there are basic categories and specific examples; they can use the specific examples as they are, or they can choose to substitute in different poses within the category as they see fit. Additionally, as they become more comfortable in their home practice, they can choose to emphasize or de-emphasize different categories according to what they need that day.

I’ll also note here — The categories and example postures I used were listed with my current students in mind. While they’ve had limited yoga instruction (generally, our class only, and not even every week) and run the spectrum of levels of fitness, they also tend to be young, able-bodied — and to practice asana while they are free of any temporary physical injuries. Even though I think it’s a good basic sequence for them, it is not a one-size-fits-all practice.

Centering — The point of centering is to bring your attention to the practice you’re about to do. It might be where you let go of whatever happened earlier that day or whatever lists you have of things yet to do. It might be where you take stock of how you’re feeling, what you need today — and to set an intention. It will probably be a posture you hold for several breaths. I am a big fan of child’s pose for centering, but a lot of people use easy seated or sometimes constructive rest.

Warm Up — The point of a warm up is to put your body gently through its ranges of motion. This warm up focuses mostly on the spine, with a little going into the upper arms and legs. If your practice is going to ask a lot of a particular body part, it’s a good idea to include that body part in the warm up.

• Traditional cat and cow, 5 rounds.
• Lateral cat/cow or wag the dog, 5 rounds.
• Twisted child’s pose, 5 breaths on each side.
• Down dog, with any movement you need, 5 breaths.
• Then step forward into uttanasana and ardha uttanasana for 3-5 breaths.

Sun Salutations — They’re an excellent way to get the blood flowing, they help stretch and strengthen a lot of the body’s muscle groups, and they can be a complete physical work out on their own. I’m going to suggest 5 rounds of Sun Salute A for this practice because it’s one of the ones with the fewest steps, making it mentally less complicated.

Standing Postures — In addition to building lower body strength, standing postures are good for helping you feel grounded and stable.

• Starting on the right side, try — each for 5 breaths — warrior 2, reverse warrior, side angle, and triangle. If you need to hold for fewer breaths, do. If you need to take a break, do. I just picked 5 because that’s the number I’m using for this sequence. You know, for consistency’s sake.
• Take a wide legged forward fold, as deep or as shallow as is comfortable, for 5 breaths.
• Repeat the sequence on the left side. Probably repeat the forward fold, too. It’s kind of awesome.

Balance Postures — I am pretty sure that we practice balance postures to teach us humility. Or that every day is different. Or to focus only on the present moment and not live outside of our bodies. Or that falling on our butts is way comfier than falling on our faces. You pick.

• Tree pose (any variation) or any other standing balance you want, 5 breaths on each side.
• Since crow seemed to be a favorite, try that. Maybe 2 rounds, 5 breaths per round. That way, if you’re not getting up in the balance yet for whatever reason, you can try one round lifting just the right toes up, and the next round lifting just the left.

Backbends — Your back should be reasonably warmed up from sun salutes, and so this would be the time to do whatever your deepest backbend of the day (or deepest backbends, plural) is going to be. They’re really good to counter all the forward bending — sometimes “slouching” — that we tend to do. But because backbends also tend to be energizing poses, they’re maybe more appropriate here than at the very end of a practice. I like camel and bow about equally well for this, but there’s no reason bridge, wheel, locust, or cobra wouldn’t work for it instead. Whatever version you choose, maybe start by doing 2 rounds, 5 breaths per round. Rest in between to give your spine a chance to decompress.

Seated Poses — This is the part of the practice where we start winding down, so things here start to be about going slower and working less. To that end, I’m going to suggest fewer poses and longer holds from this point forward. If at any point, you want to stay in a posture longer than I suggest, go for it.

• A simple seated twist, for 5-10 breaths on each side, to relieve any tension that might have arisen in the backbend. If you’ve done a gentler backbend, a deeper twist may be a good idea; if the backbend was at your edge, a gentler twist is probably in order.
• Bound angle pose, the standard yang variety, for 10 breaths. Then the yin version for another 10.

Inversions — In terms of yoga philosophy, we practice inversions to reverse the flow of gravity and to move lymph back throughout the body. In everyday life, I practice inversions because it feels fun to be upside down.

• For the most part, legs up the wall is a safe and solid inversion to hold for 10 or so breaths. If something like shoulderstand or headstand prep feels right to you, then feel free to substitute that in instead. Or do a little of the more strenuous inversion followed by legs up the wall. You pick.

Supine Poses — To bring the body toward final relaxation. My suggested sequence:

• Lying spinal twist, any flavor, 10 breaths per side.
• Any last movements or postures your body wants or needs.
• Savasana.

So that’s a practice that takes me about 30 minutes without savasana (or about 35 with), which is a time that I find manageable on most days. However, length can be subtracted by reducing hold time or removing some postures; similarly, length can be added by increasing hold time or adding additional postures. As a framework, it’s meant to be played with. So play.

Hip Yoga: Let’s Talk about Pigeon

I’m well aware that I’ve talked about pigeon before, but as it’s pretty much the pose associated with external hip rotation — which is an overly simplistic view of asana — I figured it couldn’t hurt to talk about pigeon again, this time probably adding in variations.

Though maybe the variations are best addressed in a different post. The “starting point” pose is involved enough on its own.

[Cindy Mastry instructing for Livestrong. Video via YouTube.]

Interestingly, according to my copy of Yoga Anatomy (which, there is apparently now a second edition — damn, my bank account did not need to know this), the primary external rotator working in the front leg is the gluteus maximus. For reasons of anatomy I don’t yet quite understand, the other rotating muscles appear to be primarily lengthening here, particularly in the folded forward version of the pose.

Best as I can tell right now, this has something to do with the different motions of the hip joint — internal v. external rotation, yes, but also flexion v. extension and abduction v. adduction — and the interplay between them. Why does it look like I’m off to do yet more anatomy research and then report back?

Kickass Gentle Sequence

It’s that time of the school year again. The time when I am acutely aware of how many days and hours and brain cells I’ve put in but when we’re not close enough to think about being almost done. Past experience tells me there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but I’m not quite close enough to see it yet.

It’s draining. In the classroom, we’re doing some of our most difficult academic work of the year. In the boardroom, budgets are being decided: who will get less, who will get even less. In the offices and orientations and after school clubs and upcoming summer programs, everyone wants something from me.

It’s especially important for me to be gentle with my practice right now, to use yoga as a time to give back — energy, grounding, peace, security — to myself.

I’m really loving this sequence right now. While it is gentle for me, it’s also a combination of some flowing movements, some stiller postures, and some even longer held yin poses. Additionally, with a little bit of heart opening and a little bit of standing work — but nothing too ambitious — it’s a sequence I find energizing as well as grounding.

Since I like it so much — and since I may not be able to think of much else to write for the foreseeable future — I thought I’d put it here.

Kickass Gentle Sequence:

1. I start with a backbendy version of reclined bound angle, though I like my back block horizontal and my head block on “low.” But different people will adjust for different bodies and preferences. I hang out here for 1-2 minutes, maybe longer if, you know, inertia.
2. Then a few rounds of a modified vinyasa that goes: child’s pose –> inhale to all fours –> exhale and lower to the floor –> inhale to cobra –> exhale back down –> inhale back to all fours –> exhale to child’s pose. I come back to this a few times, so, yes, it’s probably worth writing out here. For a first pass, I think I do maybe 3 repetitions.
3. A variation of child’s pose with my arms crossed rather high up, like the first stage of eagle arms. It’s an awesome shoulder stretch, and I want to be sure to credit this video from Ekhart Yoga as my source. I stay here for maybe a minute on each side with a round of the above mentioned vinyasa in between.
4. This knee down side plank with some shoulder circles, both because I like the movement in my upper body and because moving the arm while keeping the rest of the body stable is an interesting balance challenge. I do maybe 5 arm circles, take another kneeling vinyasa, and repeat on the other side.
5. A lunge flow that rocks between low lunge and half hanumanasana for 5 rounds, then holds the forward bend for 5 breaths, then moves into this twisting quad stretch. With a strap if my hand does not reach my foot that day. (It varies.) I hang out in the final stretch for about a minute — because both my quads and my spine heart it — then vinyasa and do the other side.
6. Down dog for 5 breaths, usually bending my knees or pedaling my feet. After that, some down dog twist for 5 breaths on each side.
7. I come standing at the top of my mat and take a few rounds of half forward fold to forward fold. Usually some number between two and eight feels good to me. But whatever.
8. A standing balance series that goes: padanghustasana, then revolved open toward the raised leg, then twisted (though of course, I still do the bent-knee variation; this is a gentle practice, after all).
9. Back to the floor: Usually it’s through forward fold, down dog, and hands and knees. Occasionally, I get the thought to add a conventional vinyasa in there, but it absolutely works fine without.
10. Moving into yin, some cat pulling its tail. Like in the lunging quad stretch, a strap is an option here, though I tend not to want it as much as I do in the kneeling posture. Also because the motion is largely the same as in the lunge variation — though the relationship to gravity is different — I don’t always stay for the full 3-5 minutes yin suggests, though I do always stay for at least 2 (and often 3). As you may have noticed a pattern forming — yes, I take a kneeling vinyasa in between and repeat on the second side.
11. Some yin deer, though I’m sure pigeon would be a fine substitute for people who prefer it here. As it happens, I tend to take this pose in fairly pigeon sort of way, folded forward over my front shin — which creates for me a strongish stretch in the outer front hip (though not as strong as pigeon with the back leg straight) and a lighter stretch along the front of the back hip. Again, here for 2-3 minutes, then modified vinyasa to the other side.
12. After one last kneeling vinyasa, it’s time for some reclining poses. Keeping with the yin timeline, I probably stay in each one here for another 2-3 minutes. First, I take legs up the wall — with an actual wall if at home, on a block if in class (we do not have wall space for all of us). Then back to supta baddha konasana. Then it’s time for savasana — or maybe I just stay in the bound angle. It varies.

While this is a gentle practice for me, I suppose I should point out that it’s not a particularly short practice. It ranges from about 40 minutes to just under an hour, depending on exactly how long I’m holding the poses. (So it’s not exceedingly long, either — but it’s not a quick practice.) I kind of like it that way, actually. Just because I’m doing less in terms of physical intensity doesn’t automatically mean I should be doing less in terms of creating time for myself.

Inversions and Blood

I know lots of people with Opinions on yoga and menstruation. Some believe that a gentle, restorative practice — like this one, for example — is generally the way to go. There are folks who see no reason why periods should cause people to deviate from their normal practices. (There’s a substantial overlap here with those who say things like “just cramps” and “excuse,” which of course render me prone to fits of ragecaps.) Then again, others — including most of the real life menstruating yogis I know — are pretty solidly in the “it’s complicated” camp.

But even in that camp, opinions can shift again on the specific topic of inversions. Again, some think inversions should be entirely avoided while others differentiate: types of inversions, length held, overall effect of the menstrual cycle on the yogi. I’m probably giving myself away, but I’m definitely in the latter category.

When I can manage it, I like a fairly vigorous asana practice on my period, for a lot of reasons. Because that’s the kind of practice I prefer generally. Because there are days when I can’t manage it. Because there are certain quantities and qualities of work that are engaging enough that they help shift my focus away from certain quantities and qualities of pain. Because keeping some semblance of normal can be therapeutic.

Keeping with that, hellacious though my periods may be, I don’t view them as an inherent reason to keep my pelvis right side up. On the other hand, I don’t do a whole lot of inversions in my home practice generally. So “not avoiding” inversions on my period doesn’t automatically mean I am spending seven to fourteen days of my life constantly upside down. By and large, blood gushing and not, the inversions I encounter are the ones an instructor offers during a class.

And then? I judge on a case by case basis.

If my mat is not pooled in sweat and I am not in accidental kicking distance of my neighbor, I usually choose to take the inversion. The ones in my regular practice are not super strenuous for me, so if I’ve had enough energy to go through a physically active practice, I probably have enough energy to safely and appropriately take an inversion — with or without menstruation.

Headstand in particular is a pose for me that can be extremely therapeutic and focusing. It isn’t always, but when it’s right, it’s right — and I think I could do worse that to trust that intuition.

For people who are concerned about retrograde menstruation and pelvic congestion as it applies to me: I’ve had endometriosis pain and ridiculously heavy periods since menarche, five years before I started practicing yoga — and maybe about seven since I started going upside down. I’d estimate that I practice inversions during menstruation for approximately one to three minutes every two to three months. While it is possible that this is contributing to the endo, it’s also true that endo is a progressive disease in itself. Even if I allow for a causal relationship — which is an “if” — I am pretty darn skeptical about the magnitude of the effect.

Still, every once in a while, I get a glimpse as to the reason for the other perspective. Last MenstroMonster was more or less typical for me, except for one issue: The mere idea of going upside down seemed like the most evil, vile, disgusting thing one could ask of me. To the extent that when my instructor, in a small class, asked a general, “What do you want to do?” I spoke right up.

“Not inversions.”

She laughed. “Is it that time?”

[By Kennguru (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons]

Hip Yoga: Let’s Talk About Angles

Specifically, side angle. It’s a pose I’ve been loving lately, and not in a “love to hate” kind of way. Conveniently enough, it is also a pose that works the external hip rotators — particularly for folks whose front knee tends to want to cave in.

In utthita parsvokonasana, it’s the front leg that’s rotating externally. In this case, it means the piriformis, both obturator muscles, and the gemelli are working — along with the gluteus maxiums, which also acts as a rotator muscle here.

[Chelsey Korus instructing for Howcast. Video via YouTube.]

Observations about this pose from the perspective of lateral hip rotation:

First, the front leg hip rotation is of the same variety as the front leg experiences in warrior two. However, lengthening the torso over the front leg shifts the pose’s center of gravity forward, which can increase the intensity of the hip and other front leg work. So I’m guessing that if there are folks out there for whom any variation of the side bend is just not a viable option, warrior two might be a good alternate pose, particularly as hips and thighs maybe become happier about extended side angle.

Of variations, there are a number:

• With the bottom arm pressing off of the top leg. This is generally the option I take during my first side angle of the day. The hip flexion is less, which means — at least for me — the amount of force on the rotator group is also less.
• With the bottom hand on the inner side of the front leg, either on a block (any height) or on the ground. This is the version I take most option, largely because I like the practice of using my bottom arm to help press my thigh outward.
• With the bottom hand outside the front shin, either on a block (any height) or on the floor. This is actually the version that brings the most work to my rotator muscles. In the previous version, with my arm pressing my thigh out, a good portion of the work is in my arm. In this version, the movement is one hundred percent hips.

If the variation of the front leg decides the intensity of hip rotation, the anchoring of the back foot is what “locks it in” for me. Now, I’m not entirely sure why this is because I’m not entirely sure what the muscles are doing. To the best of my discernment, I think that if my back foot does not ground completely, my tendency is to support my weight more with my bottom arm, which then allows my front thigh to adduct and rotate inward. Keeping a lot of strength in my back leg makes it more difficult for my front knee to just flop anywhere.

Finally, while the arms are maybe not as crucial to my pose as are the legs, that doesn’t mean the arms have no impact at all. As mentioned, I can use my bottom arm either to guide my leg out or as a way to inform myself that I’m moving the leg out on my own. I can lift my bottom arm from the floor so that my torso and legs, including my lateral hip rotators, are supporting more of my body. Even — fun challenge — I can lift my bottom arm so it is parallel with my spine and my top arm.

But you know, that last one… it’s a lot of work.

Five Minute Yoga: Legs on the Couch

Please do not be shocked at my revelation here: There is no actual yoga asana called “legs on the couch.” However, I’m not referring to lying any old way on a sofa — though that has its place in life too.

Rather, I’m talking about my very favorite way to take savasana. Though now that I think about it, it’s more like a combination of mountain brook pose and legs up the wall.

Basically, it involves scooting my hips and thighs up near the base of my couch, resting my lower legs on the couch, and reclining with my upper body. It ends up looking a lot like this except with, you know, a couch instead of a chair. Unlike legs up the wall, my thighs aren’t vertical in this pose, but I think that’s primarily a function of leg length and couch height and will vary for different people.

I like two things about this pose especially. One is that my legs feel more supported than they do either in legs up the wall or in constructive rest (with knees bent and feet flat on the floor), so it’s easier to relax that part of my body. The other is that my lower back feels more supported than it does in a traditional savasana, so it’s easier to relax that part of my body. Also my upper back is supported — which happens in other poses but is still a big deal to me since it’s a place where I carry a lot of tension.

For those reasons, not only do I like legs on the couch as a final relaxation pose — but I also like it any time I have five minutes and need to relax.

Rotator Stretch for Tight Hips

You remember, like, a month ago when I last talked about the hip anatomy series, right? Right? Well, erm, if you need a minute to refresh your memory, I cannot say that I blame you. It’s been a while.

Part of that is because I’ve been consumed by real life stuff and endo blogging, yes. But part of that is because finding poses that focus on rotator muscles is tricky business — at least when it comes to poses I haven’t already discussed in the hip series. And part is because my rotator muscles are among the more persnicketty ones when it comes to interacting with endo pain, which means that experimenting with such poses is often not the most delightful task.

All of which is a meandering explanation for why I haven’t written in so long and why I’m about to detail what looks like a fairly simple pose — and is in fact a pose I have covered before. However, while I looked at internal thigh rotation as it helps contribute to spinal alignment then, I didn’t look at what the internal rotation was doing in the hips themselves.

[Cathie Ryder instructing for Expert Village. Video via YouTube.]

For me, I know now that examining this hip rotation is something worth doing because it’s something that I do easily a dozen or more times, not just during the course of an asana practice, but also during the course of my regular day. From what I’ve seen from other yogis, that whole “pull the butt cheek flesh away from the floor” thing is a pretty common component of most seated poses, though I’m not sure it’s always done with attention to hip rotation.

In staff pose, the gluteus maximus — you know, the big butt muscle — is lengthening, along with the rotation-specific piriformis, obturator internus, and gemelli muscles.

I’m not sure how many people will actually feel stretching action here. Even as someone who has trouble with internal rotation — perhaps suggesting that some of the muscles involved in external rotation might be tight — staff pose is a pretty gentle stretch for me. On a regular day, at least; after a tough run, however, that may be a different story. Interestingly, the stretch increases the more I prop under my hips. I expect this has something to do with the tilt of my pelvis giving my rotator muscles more room to stretch, but I’d have to get back to you on that.

Five Minute Yoga: Morning Twist

I think I’ve mentioned before that I tend to sleep all curled into one side, which means various muscles on both sides of my back — and shoulders, abdomen, and hips — are all kinds of stiff come morning. So something like this is good to start to loosen things up.

Instead of holding, I tend to take it in an inhale-up, exhale-down vinyasa. I’m also likely to place a prop under my fingertips. My favorite is the seat of my couch, though a yoga block or two (stacked) would also work for folks who have them readily available.

As I tend to do these at the start of my day, I’m already apt to be like, “Why must I wear pants and why the fuck is there no coffee yet?” So looking around for where I may have misplaced any hypothetical yoga blocks (because I don’t actually have any) wouldn’t work for me.

This twist does, though.

Five Minute Yoga: Splat

Another bit of yoga I love if I only have 5 minutes — especially if those 5 minutes occur toward the end of my day or any other time when my energy level might be low.

Essentially, my process is this:

1. Select any variation of a reclining spinal twist (some options available in the video below). I tend to select one that is gentle enough for me to hold comfortably for a long-ish time. Usually, this does not involve supportive props, but other people’s knees and backs may vary.
2. Hold for 2-3 minutes (I like 3, but to fit inside 5 minutes, it would really have to be 2 or 2:30) on each side.
3. Whole lot of stretching, whole lot of relaxing. Good times.

[Jennifer Kostel instructing for Expert Village. Video via YouTube.]

Core Sequence: The Dreaded Sequel

Continued from here.

Modified Sun Salutes:

A lot of the modifications here involve skipping or modifying individual poses in the sun salute. So I’ll go through the poses in smaller segments, noting where I offer verbal alternatives to my students.

1. Chair pose, held for 5 breaths [options: shorter hold, or skip it entirely] to forward fold.
2. Go through a chaturanga/backbend (cobra or updog), or proceed directly to downward facing dog.
3. From down dog, inhale to slide forward into plank; then exhale to slide back into down dog. That’s one. Repeat for a total of 5 [options: fewer reps, just hold down dog, or take a child's pose] plank-to-down-dog-thingies.
4. Step or jump forward. Through uttanasana, come back into chair pose and hold for another 5 breaths [same chair options as before]. Then come to stand.

In class, I lead my students through 2 of these. Alone, I might do 3 to 5. Or not.

Boat:

A few options on boat pose twist [links to video].

1. Option one involves placing the hands behind — for support — and keeping the tiptoes on the ground, also for support.
2. Option two involves placing the hands behind for support but lifting the legs off the ground, as shown in the video.
3. The last option involves lifting both the hands and legs, as shown in the video.

In class, I like to go through 3 rounds of 3 repetitions each in order to give folks the ability to try each option. On my own, I’m more likely to do something like 2 rounds of 5 reps each.

Backbends:

1. A half camel flow, spending one breath on each side, and repeating — both sides — for 3 or so rounds.
2. One or maybe two rounds of full camel (where “full” = “both sides,” not necessarily “hands all the way back to heels”). I say I hold each for around 5 breaths, but I only start counting once I’m fully in the pose — and I take 2 or 3 breaths (or more) to get there.
3. If I’m practicing alone, I might take either kapotasana or wheel pose for the same amount of time. Or not, depending.

Cool Down:

1. Upavistha konasana usually, because it’s my favorite, but another seated (or reclined) forward fold would probably work just as well. The time I stay here totally approximately one trillion years. Or, like, a couple of minutes. You know.
2. A reclined spinal twist. I like to make it an easier — so, for me, less twisty-tangly — spinal twist, so that it’s one I can relax and sink into for awhile. Again, here for approximately one trillion years, half on each side.
3. Savasana.

So, yeah. It can be a lot of hard physical work, but for me, it’s hard physical work in a way that I find fun. I like the balance challenges of the traveling planks and the boat twists. And yes, I fall down reasonably often, but that’s part of what reminds me not to take my hard work so seriously.

Oh, crap, I made a core practice.

It’s actually really fun, in ways that hard physical work can sometimes be really fun. Additionally, because it’s a practice I used for my students, it’s one where I tried to make different options for different bodily needs. In class, this worked out so that most people could select a place that was the right level of work for them; I’m hoping this holds relatively true for larger sample sizes.

A quick note: In places where it lists “options,” I tend to do one of two things. When I’m going through the sequence with a group, I start with what I think of as the physically “easiest” version of a movement, then move on to variations that require more strength or balance or whatever. When there are people who are figuring out which option is right for them, this tends to let them experiment while having a “safety net” — in other words, a version of the pose that they know they can do — to come back to. However, if I’m practicing on my own, I might do all the repetitions with the same asana variation — since I’m already more likely to know what’s going to work for me on a given day. (Not always, but more often than someone experimenting with these poses for the first or second time.)

Centering & Warm Up:

1. Start out in constructive rest. Because it’s a core-focused practice, I like to start with one or both hands on the belly, drawing attention to the abdominal movement during breath. In class, I tend to stay here for several breaths; alone, I might stay as long, or I might cut it shorter.
2. Then a reclined warm up flow that starts out in constructive rest. Inhale into apanasana (knees to chest) and exhale back down into constructive rest; then inhale into bridge and exhale back down into constructive rest. I repeat the whole sequence for a total of 5 complete rounds, but 5 is not necessarily everybody’s magic number.
3. Fart pose! Because fart pose, that’s why. Again, about 5 rounds of this; I do like to keep the number consistent with however many rounds I did in the constructive rest flow.
4. Then a held bridge — maybe with a deeper backbend than the rolling variety, maybe not — for 5 breaths. I might spend a final breath in constructive rest and/or with knees to chest before coming to stand.

Sun Salute A:

1. Three — or so — rounds of Sun Salute A, taking any standard modifications that seem like a good idea.
2. Finally, we did one modified sun salute — stepping back from ardha uttanasana directly to down dog — to come to hands and knees for some plank variations.

Plank Variations:

And other prone core work.

1. First, 5 modified chaturanga pushups. For folks for whom this is the wrong kind of difficult, modifications include bringing the knees forward some (closer to directly under the hips) and/or not lowering all the way into chaturanga. Another option includes doing fewer than 5 repetitions.
2. After that, lower all the way to the floor and rest for a few breaths, turning the head to one side.
3. Either 5 (or, you know, whichever other number you’re going with) rounds of locust or cobra in a vinyasa — inhale up into the backbend, then exhale to lower.
4. Then another few breaths on the floor, turning the head to the opposite side.

This is where that “options” idea starts to come into play. This is the sequence I use in class — letting students decide for themselves which option is the right amount of work — but it totally works to just pick any of the options and repeat multiple times.

1. Something I like to call “traveling bird dog.” Basically, it starts on hands and knees. On one exhale, lift the left leg; lower on the inhale. On the next exhale, lift the right leg; lower on the inhale. Repeat with the arms (which I find actually trickier in terms of balance). It can be helpful to repeat this a second time to get used to the rhythm, but it’s definitely not necessary.
2. Maybe rest in child’s pose, depending on how much physical effort that entailed.
3. The next option is a traveling forearm plank. The way I do it, this involves getting into forearm plank. Then exhale, left foot up; inhale it back down. Exhale, right foot up; inhale it back down. Because I find lifting the arms in the pose awkward as well as difficult, I just repeat the sequence with the feet again — so there are still 4 lifts and lowers of some limb or other.
4. How about that rest in child’s pose?
5. A third option is traveling plank, which is just like traveling bird dog but in plank pose.
6. A rest in child’s pose, whether I think I need it or not.
7. Because then, if I have it in me, I’m going to repeat whichever variation was my maximum “safe and still beneficial” level one more time.
8. Aaaand… child’s pose.

And ack! I had no idea I’d sequenced a practice that would take longer than one reasonably sized blog post to write. I will finish this tomorrow, I promise.

Unless I fall asleep and forget.

Which could happen.

Goddess Squat

Which is simultaneously a hip yoga pose, an adductor stretcher, and a pose I love to hate. It may also be a pose that works the adductor muscles eccentrically. I would check that, but my copy of Yoga Anatomy is about 18 inches more than arm’s length away.

And I will squelch my curiosity.

I will.

Really, I will.

Fine, give me a minute. I just have this one thing I need to check…

Damn, it’s not even in there.

Okay, one more minute. My Google skillz know no bounds.

*opens new tab*

*closes new tab*

Fucknuggets. I think I’m going to rescind my earlier “working eccentrically” statement, though based only on these tidbits of information pieced together:

1. Various sites detailing the pose suggest that it works and/or strengthens the “entire lower body,” but when listing specific muscle groups, it focuses on pelvic floor, glutes, quads, and calves.
2. The closest any of them come to mentioning the adductor group is when they explain that the pose “stretches the groins.” Which, eccentric muscle work happens as the muscle is lengthening, but “stretch” does not, to me, connote eccentric muscle work.
3. When I got fed up with Google and tried the pose my own damn self, what I felt was this: Because of the moving-toward-right-angles of both the knees and the hips, I felt both stretching and strengthening sensation in both my quads and hamstrings. However, I did not feel any adductor strengthening going on, so I have to offer an apology on that one.

Plus, I am sort of miffed. Sites should maybe not describe a pose as “strengthening the entire lower body” if it leaves out some rather large muscles. A lot of the lower body? Yes. The whole lower body? No.

Oh. Oh, yes. We were looking at goddess pose.

[Jenny Glick instructing for SuryaChandraYoga. Video via YouTube.]

So. Even though I’m looking at this as a hip adductor stretch — and it is, as the hips are quite strongly abducted here — it’s still a very strong, active pose overall. It’s a pose I’d take after I was warmed up but still fairly early in my practice — at least early enough to know that I had plenty of energy reserves. It’s not one I ever use during cool down or restorative portions of my practice, and I expect that this is also true for a fair number of other yogis.

Additionally, as the video demonstrates, when getting into this pose, I take a vinyasa for the first few rounds. It’s way easier convincing my body that it’s okay to stay in this pose if I give it an easy out for those rounds. Physically, I’m sure this has a lot to do with warming up the muscles. But mentally, it has a lot to do with readying myself for how much of me is going to be working in the hold.

For folks who are wanting modifications, I know of a few but could find YouTube or other demonstration videos for zero of them. If you’re still confused by my verbal descriptions, let me know, and I’ll draw a stick figure in Paint. (And then you’ll be really confused!)

1. Having the arms in goal posts is its own separate thing and not actually necessary for the leg positioning. If it’s making the balance tricky — or if you just want to — it’s totally cool to keep the hands on the hips or thighs or to bring them to prayer in front of the heart.
2. If balance is the main issue, you can do this pose so that the bum is up against the wall, either with a middling amount of support or just barely brushing it.
3. If more than middling support is needed at the wall, it may be worth doing this pose on the edge of a chair. For ease of leg spreading, you’ll probably want a chair without arms, and you’ll probably want to sit on the forward edge of it. The chair version allows the chair to support the weight of the pelvis and torso — instead of the quads, glutes, and hamstrings doing a lot of that work — so the pose becomes more about the work in the outer hips and the stretch through the inner thighs.

If all of that is not going to work — or if you just want an adductor stretch that’s more suitable for the end of a practice — wide angle seated fold may be a good option.

Failing, Flying, & Handstands

Via Academy of American Poets, “Failing and Flying” by Jack Gilbert:

Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.
It’s the same when love comes to an end,
or the marriage fails and people say
they knew it was a mistake, that everybody
said it would never work. That she was
old enough to know better. But anything
worth doing is worth doing badly.
Like being there by that summer ocean
on the other side of the island while
love was fading out of her, the stars
burning so extravagantly those nights that
anyone could tell you they would never last.
Every morning she was asleep in my bed
like a visitation, the gentleness in her
like antelope standing in the dawn mist.
Each afternoon I watched her coming back
through the hot stony field after swimming,
the sea light behind her and the huge sky
on the other side of that. Listened to her
while we ate lunch. How can they say
the marriage failed? Like the people who
came back from Provence (when it was Provence)
and said it was pretty but the food was greasy.
I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell,
but just coming to the end of his triumph.

This poem makes me think of handstands.

Handstand has been a semi-regular part of my practice for maybe four or five years now. I used a wall then, and I use a wall now.

Except for that one time I thought it would be awesome to try it in the middle of the room, then accidentally flipped over onto the couch. But that is the exception that proves the rule. It is also the start of the rule that goes, “If you must do your inversions in the middle of the room, then face the couch and not the TV. You known why.“

But that is neither here nor there.

On point, in the four or five years I’ve been practicing handstands, I haven’t gotten much better. I mean, I can kick up reliably, and with the wall I can stay there. But without the wall, well, my sense of balance is fleeting. A second or two away from the wall was all I could do four years ago; a second or two away from the wall is all I can do now.

One might say I have failed at handstands. I have not made visible progress in the pose in years and, barring some belated Festivus miracle, I am unlikely to make visible progress in the foreseeable future.

And yet.

Those one or two seconds, when I can get them, that I’m actually balancing on my own hands, holding myself vertical (more or less) in the air? Irreplaceable. I am flying.

Eagle Pose, Chair Edition

The last installment of the hip series looked at eagle pose. There were a few variations for arm and leg positions. However, all of those positions assumed a standing pose, which is not ideal for everyone.

I hesitated to include a chair option at the time because a lot of the chair modifications I see look at the arms only — which is not terrible but also not terribly helpful in a series that’s focusing on the hips.

So I was happy to find this:

[Yoga with Lucia for Grandmother Hen. Video via YouTube.]

The same adduction movement is happening with the top leg. I’m guessing that the overall work on the adductor is less in the seated version than in the standing version because the amount of “hugging to the midline” necessary to maintain balance is also less. That said:

1. I may be wrong.
2. Sometimes less work is the right amount of work.

Hip Yoga: Eagle

In the last hip yoga post, I detailed a reclined stretching pose. For the next few posts of the series, I’m going to look at postures that contract and strengthen the hip adductors. (As someone with tight complementary muscles — aka., the hip abductors — I assure you that this hurts me more than it hurts you.) Today I’m looking at a standing posture; however, for folks for whom standing is not the best of all possible worlds, floor poses are certainly in this blog’s future.

Today’s asana is eagle pose, a fairly involved standing balance that incorporates hip adduction as one of its elements. It also calls on lower body strength, core stability, and shoulder stretching for the pose.

[Chelsey Korus instructing for Howcast. Video via YouTube.]

In terms of adductor action, it’s the adductors — specifically adductor magnus — that we’re focusing on here. The top thigh is crossing the midline of the body, creating some adductor engagement and contraction. If you do a thing known as “hugging the midline” — basically, making sure the core is engaged, then squeezing the left and right thighs toward one another, creating some stability in the spine and pelvis — it can intensify the top leg adduction.

In terms of the rest of the posture, well, let’s just say that it’s a pose with a lot going on. In case of possible overwhelmedness:

• It is totally reasonable to separate out the shoulder business from the leg business and to only do one or the other (at a time or at all) until such time as you feel comfortable adding on.
• Some instructors teach to enter the pose legs first, then arms. Some teach arms first, then legs. While that second option is what works for me personally, there is no actual magic answer. It’s fine to do whichever is easiest for you.
• You can also do this pose with your bum lightly resting against a wall for balance.

Also to complicate matters, the many arm and leg options for the pose. Legs first this time, just because:

• One option is to cross the top leg over the standing leg, then rest the top toes (as much or as little as is good for you) on the ground. This does lessen the work in the top adductor; on the flip side, it aids stability and balance. Personally, I am a fan of this leg option when I want to concentrate more on the shoulder stretch, so I want a leg position where toppling over is less of a looming possibility.
• Another option is to cross the top leg over the standing leg just one time, so that the outside edge of the top foot or calf is moving toward touching the outside edge of the standing calf. This ends up being the option I take most often because I like the balance challenge, but I don’t like the wiggling and wriggling I have to do to take option three.
• The last leg option I know involves crossing the top thigh over, as in the second option, but then continuing the wrap with the lower leg so that the top foot is tucked behind the standing calf. Because of the girth of my legs (thighs and calves) and the non-flexibility of my hip abductors (which are getting stretched here), this variation is often a PITA for me to get into, so I usually pretend it doesn’t even exist.

And the arms:

• One option involves placing the hands on opposite shoulders, sort of like giving yourself a hug, and lifting up through the elbows (which are more or less lined up on top of one another at the center line of the chest). I sometimes take this option when my shoulders are feeling extra tight or when I want to focus more on my hips.
• The next option involves lifting the forearms so they’re vertical and back to back with one another. This is a pretty commonly offered variation, so I’m guessing it’s useful for folks for whom the first option isn’t enough shoulder stretch but for whom the third option is also less workable. (For me, my forearms and wrists are happy to do the twisting thing, so I rarely take this arm variation.)
• The final option involves raising the forearms, then sort of twisting them around one another so that the palms come more or less to touch. (I end up touching palms to fingertips, and I vote that’s good enough.) For me, at least, this variation doesn’t increase the shoulder stretch any over the second option. What it does do, however, is to create a convenient “lock” that helps keep my arms from slipping out of position.

Which. Yeah. A lot to think about.

For next time, maybe I can find some non-standing options for eagle?

Everyday Yoga 2013

At the last Everyday Yoga discussion post, the consensus seemed to be that pictures would be more manageable if folks could take pictures for multiple poses at a go. So this is going to be the list for the February, March, and April installments of Everyday Yoga.

I’ll aim to post each installment on the first of its respective month. That said, if I don’t get a certain number of contributions — let’s say three, including my own? — by that time, I’ll delay the picture post until I have enough. You’re welcome to submit photos all at once or whenever you have them, whichever is more convenient for you.

The List:

• February 1 — Janu Sirsasana/Seated Head-to-Knee Pose
• March 1 — Balasana/Child’s Pose
• April 1 — Urdhva Mukha Svanasana/Upward Facing Dog

Each pose in slightly more detail:

An Internet-found written pose guide for janu sirsasana, along with a YouTube video:

[Video from Yoga Journal. Obtained via YouTube.]

__________________________________________

Then the child’s pose written guide and a video, chosen for its plethora of variations:

[Liz McDonald instructing. Video via YouTube.]

___________________________________________

Finally, text and photo instructions for up dog, along with an up dog video:

[Anna instructing for bananasplityoga. Video via YouTube.]

____________________________________________

This would also the place to ask questions or offer additional modifications of the poses, to give folks the maximum choice in their picture taking.

For submissions, you can either comment with them here, or else you can email them to anytimeyoga@gmail.com.

Class Recap: Gentle Flow to Yin

Dang.

A while ago, I wrote the title of this post and saved it as a draft. This was shortly after I taught a class with the same theme. I was going to write it down for y’all, because it was kind of nice and a little different from what I usually do. That is, there was a little flow and a little yin, but it wasn’t strictly one or the other.

Only now, for the life of me, I can’t remember what we did.

So I’ll turn it to you. Since I don’t remember what was in the sequence, I’ll ask, what would you like to see in a practice that described itself as “Gentle Flow to Yin”?

I’m not asking you to plan out a whole sequence — though if that sounds appealing, go for it! — but are there a couple of poses that you’re always secretly hoping for in class?

Like, for me, I am always a fan of flowing into and out of half camel, and it’s a fairly gentle movement for me, so that’s one I hope we did in that class. (I mean, I know we’ve done it before, but I can’t remember if I included it that particular time.) And as far as I’m concerned, nothing beats a long-held lying spinal twist at the end of my practice. (And I’m sure we did one of them, though I cannot remember which variation.)

What would make a gentle flow and yin practice happy for you?

Adductor Stretching, Side Lying

I have a feeling that I’m going to get into some fairly intense vigorous standing poses while discussing the hip adductors, so I wanted to start this segment with something a bit more restful. Anantasana, side reclining leg lift, does require some amount of core stability in addition to leg mobility, but every time I look at pictures of it, I’m like, “Oh, how nice. That person is resting on the floor. I can do that.” So I figured it might not be a bad place to start.

[Cathie Ryder instructing for Expert Village. Video via YouTube.]

My copy of Yoga Anatomy tells me that some hip adductors are lengthening in both the top and the bottom leg in this pose. I can only feel an inner thigh stretch in my top leg, but I’m not sure if that’s just my anatomy. I do have a tendency to not feel inner thigh stretches in poses that are suitably stretchy for a lot of other people.

I can also feel my quads, glutes, and oblique abdominals working to keep me stable in the pose. I’m not sure that the quantity of effort they’re expending is enough for me to classify this as a vigorous pose for me. However, I do find the quality of the effort to be unusual. The pose is less familiar to be, so while I may have the muscle strength to hold my body stable there, I don’t necessarily have the muscle memory to put that strength to practical use yet.

All of which is a long way to say that I suspect there is a learning curve to this posture and that said learning curve involves rolling backward a lot. If this is a problem, Yoga Journal recommends bracing the soles of the feet (probably, ultimately, just the bottom foot) against a wall. I could also see doing the pose with the bum either right next to or just a few inches away from the wall — maybe not preventing any rollback, but at least keeping rollback to a minimum.

As for leg positions, the one I see most often is to take a toe lock (first two fingers around the big toe) and fully extend the leg. And the modification I see most often involves using a strap around the foot in place of a toe lock while still fully extending the leg. A couple of other things I think could also work (which might be useful in a context where one does not have a strap):

• Extending the leg fully with nothing attached to the foot — For me, this results in less stretch along my hip adductors but more effort through my quad to keep my leg up in the air.
• Using a bent knee version — Sort of like the second picture here, only rotated 90 degrees. Again, a gentler inner thigh stretch, this time with no increase in stabilizing effort.

Overall, I find it a fairly accessible, comfy pose — accidental rollbacks to my bum notwithstanding. That said, it’s not one I’ve incorporated into many of my practices, especially not my home practices. Maybe I should remedy that.

And We All Fall Down

Given the number of times I declare my undying hatred of standing balance poses, it may be surprising, both that I put together a sequence — for my school students — building toward half moon and that I enjoyed doing so. Regular half-moon — as opposed to revolved half-moon, which is a tool of the butt-burning devil, I say affectionately — has never been a pose I love to hate. Perhaps because it’s a hip-twisting-open pose, at least for the standing leg, which is a direction my body likes to go naturally. Perhaps because the most common expression of the pose involves keeping the bottom hand or fingertips on the floor, so it’s not really a standing balance in the way that some others are.

I now have a core group of students who are getting decidedly more adventurous with their pose preferences, so I thought this might be a fun way to challenge them. That said, I can have new people — new to me, totally new to yoga, whatever definition you please — show up at any time as well (something I’m sure is true for any number of people who lead yoga sessions). Because of that, I wanted something that had a lot of flexibility and options built in. This is what I came up with.

Judging from student feedback, I think I may have skewed it a little too far toward the physically vigorous end of the spectrum. Good for me to keep in mind for next time, but not a big deal in the moment on account of some of the built-in options.

Also, before we started, I made sure to let them know:

1. Every single vinyasa was 100% customizable. This includes skipping any given — or all offered — vinyasas entirely.
2. It is totally normal to fall the first time — or the first several times — one tries half moon. In fact, it is good to plan for it and so to position oneself where they won’t accidentally kick another student in the face.

Warm Up:

All variations on uttanasana, including:

• 3 repetitions of ardha uttanasana to uttanasana.
• 3 repetitions of an uttanasana twist (links to PDF; I’m referring to first option pictured), holding for 1 breath on each side.
• 1 more repetition of the same twist, this time holding for 3 breaths on each side.

Sun Salutes, C Series:

The ones we do here are still sort of an extension of our warm up:

• For the first round, I incorporate an open twist in the lunge for each side. That is, we twist the torso toward the back leg, sort of as is pictured here. It’s a gentler twist than the one more often used here, but it more closely mimics the body position in half moon. We hold each twist for 3 breaths.
• For the second round, we do the more common bent knee lunge twist, both as a counterpose to the first twist and because there’s an option for revolved half-moon later. We also hold each of these twists for 3 breaths.

Sun Salutes, A Series:

With add ons.

• The first time through, we add on some warrior 2 — 3 bend-straighten repetitions, then a hold for 3-5 breaths.
• Next comes a sun salute with reverse warrior to extended side angle. Again, 3 flowing repetitions, then a hold of side angle for 3-5 breaths.
• Another one, this time with triangle, held for 5 breaths on each side.

Standing Series:

• Goddess, 3 1-breath repetitions, then 1 hold of 3-5 breaths.
• Wide angle forward bend for 5 or so breaths.
• Down dog, because it’s a nice starting position for half moon.
• Half moon for 10 or so breaths. I know that might sound like a long hold for someone new to the pose, but I found that my students needed that much time to figure out how it actually worked. From down dog, we stepped forward into lunge, then stepped the back foot up, then worked on hand position. Then we just lifted the back foot, talking about engagement and rotation, for a couple of breaths; then a few breaths rotating the top hip up with both hands on the floor; then bringing the top hand to the hip. And then we all fall down.
• Either uttanasana or revolved half moon — the latter bringing both hands back to the ground — for about 5 breaths. Then back to down dog and repeat on the other side.
• At the end of the second side, we all took a few breaths in uttanasana, or — as it was then known — “the heck did we just do?” pose.

Core Work:

Abs and back.

• Boat, either toes on the floor, knees bent, or legs straight. I think we did 2 rounds of 5 breaths each.
• Bridge, first in a flow of 5 repetitions for 1 breath each. Then they chose whether to repeat that or to hold bridge for 5 breaths.

Floor Work:

• Dandasana for a few breaths to prepare for some seated twists. We also came back to dandasana in between each subsequent pose.
• Seated spinal twist for 5 breaths on each side.
• And also janu sirsasana in the same way.
• Then savasana because savasana.

It was fun when we did it, but it was after this class that my students requested a yin series the following week.

“Hard Work Is Fun” Practice

This is another asana sequence I put together for my after-school group, who tend to be mostly able-bodied (at least, they don’t disclose any conditions or concerns to me when I ask privately — but then, I don’t always disclose to my teachers, either) but who encompass a variety of strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular endurance levels (some are out-of-season athletes using yoga in their conditioning plan, some consider themselves active but not athletic, some report that they get little to no exercise outside of these yoga sessions). I tried to put together a series that would be both challenging and accessible to these various groups of students.

And, well, also to make it fun. We’ve spent some of the last few classes building muscle memory for some frequently used poses (think: those commonly used in sun salutes). This is good and useful, of course, but it is also repetitive. And if we don’t take a break from that and try things that are novel and fun, it has the potential to get boring.

In addition to sun salutes, this series incorporates some standing balance elements, some of my favorite backbends, and the beginning of an inversion practice (this one contraindicated for neck or shoulder injuries, but not for other common inversion contraindications).

We do a lot of these poses progressively. That is, I start out with what tends to be the most physically gentle option for a pose; then I move on to a more vigorous option and a still more vigorous option. I remind them frequently — and so I mention it now — that if it feels like a particular variation is their edge, it’s 110% okay to repeat that variation and to not do the more vigorous option(s). And in fact, when we’re looking at something like backbending, that approach may actually be preferable.

Warm Up:

• Because this series includes more backbending than we’ve necessarily done before, I start out with a supported (hands on back of pelvis) standing backbend to look at actions and alignment.
• Then we move into a progressive standing warm-up series: 3 rounds of upward salute, 3 rounds of upward salute to forward fold to half forward fold and back to forward fold, 3 rounds of chair-forward fold-half forward fold–forward fold.

Sun Salutes:

• One warm-up sun salute, where I encourage folks to keep their back knees on the ground in lunges, place knees down for chaturanga, and take cobra instead of upward dog. Just because while we’ve warmed up some of the muscle groups, this is our first pass by some others.
• One sun salute with low lunge options, maybe supporting the pelvis:
  

  This ends up being basically how I have them feel out their first standing backbend as well, with the hands guiding the pelvis into a neutral tilt (which then helps to un-crunchify the low back).

  Other options would include raising the hands to the heart or overhead or maybe starting to bring the upper back into a backbend for crescent lunge:

  

  Even with the knee down, crescent lunge can be a balance challenge.

  We also worked some of these plank crunches into this sun salute, but I always like to think of those as optional.

• One sun salute with high lunges, including any of the arm and torso options above — and always with the option to place the back knee on the ground at any point during the lunge. Because high lunge tends to be a challenging pose for many of my students, in terms of both muscle strength and balance, I kept the plank crunches out of this one — though another person practicing could always opt to put them back in.

One Standing Series:

• We go from chair to forward fold, then into a standing split on one side. During that standing split, I offer the options of keeping both sets of fingertips on the ground, bringing one hand to the standing leg (usually right hand if right leg is on the ground, reverse for left), or bringing both hands to the standing leg. Invariably, students will go until they feel themselves about to topple over, which produces lots of giggles. After coming out of the standing split, we hang out in uttanasana for a couple of breaths, then repeat the chair-uttanasana-standing split sequence on the second side.
• After that, we lower down in to malasana, either supported with hands on the floor or with the hands in namaste and elbows pressing into thighs.We hang out here until everyone’s breathing is more settled, maybe around 5 breaths or so.

Backbends:

• Some locust variations: We do a little bit of exploring what it feels like to lift and lower first just the legs, then just the upper body, and finally, legs and upper body together. After that, we do 6 repetitions in a vinyasa, either alternating legs and upper body or else lifting and lowering both at the same time. If we can, we build to a 5 breath hold on the last repetition (or, you know, holding as many breaths up to 5 as is a good idea for that person).
• Next, some camel options: We do 3 repetitions of camel, holding each for 5 breaths. The first time, we keep the hands supporting the pelvis so that we can revisit actions and alignment. On the second repetition, folks choose to repeat that (or decide they’re done with backbending altogether and take a child’s pose or kneeling shape) or to take the option reaching back for the heels with the toes tucked under (so the heels are maybe 4 or so inches off the ground, depending on the person’s height). Finally the option to repeat any of the above or to reach for the heels with the feet flat on the floor.

Inversion Prep:

• Right now, we’re working up to holding dolphin, which might eventually become headstand prep. (I’m not sure if I’ll ever feel comfortable teaching full headstand.) We actually start on hands and knees with the forearms on the floor (either palms flat or hands clasped, yogi’s choice) and move the torso forward until forehead/eyes come just in front of the hands. (Credit to this video for the idea.) Second option involves lifting the hips into the “standard” option of the pose. Because I’m thinking this is going to start to build inversion strength and awareness, I offer a third option of walking the feet in (I can only do 1-2 steps) so that the torso is moving toward vertical, sort of like a forearm stand prep. We repeated the sequence twice (with the explicit instruction that it was always okay to not take the next option and/or to go back to a previous option): the first time, for 5 breaths in each pose; the second, students took 1 breath in each pose until they came to the most vigorous option they thought they could safely hold for 10 breaths.

Cool Down:

• You may have noticed by now that upavistha konasana is approximately my favorite forward fold ever. We held the upright shape — with hands/fingertips behind the hips — for about 5 breaths before folding forward, letting everybody get a feel for the long spine and open chest that can be a part of the pose. After that, students choose to stay upright or fold forward (however much is right for them), and we hang out for another 10 breaths or so.
• A lying spinal twist. Any of them will work, but we used the one pictured here (the reclined twist, toward the bottom of the post). I think we did something like 10 breaths on each side (well, 10 of my breaths, which may or may not have been 10 of my students’ breaths).
• Savasana. Because that was hard work. And also fun.

All told, this practice takes me about 35-40 minutes (minus savasana) when I’m working on it at home. Instructing to students, about 45.